


Go and Treat Yourself

by mamodewberry



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Massage, Spas, minor UST
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 22:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9259436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamodewberry/pseuds/mamodewberry
Summary: Rin Matsuoka is a champion swimmer. He doesn't need to go to spas for a massage for his aching body when he pays for it during swimming season. Something changes his mind.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Heavily inspired by @risotto's wonderfully amazing UST waxing fic [ HERE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1356175)and my time in a Mattress Firm massage chair with a bit of my own personal experience with the one massage I have had. 
> 
> This is my first MakoRin fic. Uh. Be gentle. I normally tread MH/SR, but occasionally I dip into the MR pool when I need a good break. 
> 
> For MakoRin Week!

It was no use. This just wasn’t working.

“Enough, Gou.”

With a huff, she squeezed what little malleable flesh there was at her fingers. “I tried, okay!”

“I know, I know. I appreciate it.” Rin sighed and combed his hair back with his fingers. Her hands were far too petite and delicate to get down into the deep sore tissues of his upper body. “Back to foam rolling. Ow!”

Gou punched his shoulder. Normally the jab wouldn’t hurt him, but currently he was at a huge disadvantage. “No, Brother; I said I was going to help and I’m going to!”

“The not punching would have been ni-”

“I’ve got a voucher for a spa I haven’t used yet.”

“... I’m not going to a spa, Gou.”

“Don’t knock it until you try it! They’re the professionals over there and have people that know what they are doing. Hold on, I’ll go grab it.” She scooted her stool away from him and padded down the hall to her room. 

Rin hunched over the back of his own chair as he waited for her to come back. 

“Yeah, just call this number and set up an appointment. Tell them your problem spots and they’ll take care of you.”

“And make it so I can’t live without them and have to go every week and pay them more than I pay my physical therapist.”

“Don’t be so cynical. Just go and treat yourself. It’s free and I’m giving it to you.” She flipped the pink card around. “It expires next week, anyway.” 

 

Rin waited until the following day to suck up his pride to call the damn number on the card. He found going to get a massage was a waste of time when he had other options. Enlisting Gou only happened as a temporary relief as it wasn’t worth the trip out to Tokyo and he wouldn’t be back in Sydney for another week for the therapists he had. Why did he have to push himself so hard even on vacation? He was tempted to ask for a wax instead, but _of course_ that wasn’t offered. Oh well, he was a frequent customer elsewhere. Besides, he wasn’t one to refuse a gift. Just… grumble about it until eventually he accepted. 

A bubbly voice answered the phone after the second ring. 

“Hi. I’d like to schedule a massage?”

“Sure! We have an opening on Wednesday at 4pm. Would that work for you, sir?”

He took his phone from his ear to quickly tap to his calendar. Blank square. “It does.”

“Relaxation massage? Deep tissue and tension?”

“The latter.”

“Do you have a preference on a male or female seeing to you?”

Huh. His normal therapist was male. He didn’t see anything wrong with either, but at the same time… thinking about how Gou’s tiny hands hardly made a dent. Obviously a woman here would have had training, but. “Male, please.”

“All right. You’ll be with Tachibana-san on Wednesday at four. We’ll see you then.”

 

He arrived fashionably early, as one does when receiving a service. The bubbly girl from the phone was the one that greets him at the desk. She had him sign in and mark for voucher guest (did that make a difference on quality? he wondered). 

Before he could reach for a magazine to keep himself occupied, the back door opened and a tall and broad man stepped out. 

“Matsuoka-san?” 

“That’s me.” Rin stood and followed him back through nail stations and hair chairs into a dimly lit room. Soothing music on low volume, a long and thin bed in the center with sheets. No anatomy charts or clinical note slots and brochures on the walls, just photos of the coastline.

“And what are we seeing you for today, Matsuoka-san?”

Tachibana held his hands behind him in a way Rin knew to be professional, but it seemed so friendly and open on him. Maybe it’s that warm smile he had. Or that honey voice. 

Where did _that_ come from?

Rin cleared his throat verbally and mentally. “I changed my routine up at the gym for tapering during the swimming off-season. Going at it for a week now and my back and arms kill.”

“We’ll have a look. I’ll step out while you undress. You can keep your undergarments on or take them off; whatever you’re comfortable with.” With a smile, Tachibana left the room with the click of the knob. The thought to be in the nude was quickly chased away with the rationale of he’d be under the blanket anyway. And was sure Tachibana had seen enough asses to not care about his. 

And why should he care about what he thought, anyway?

Five minutes later Tachibana returned and improved the creases in the blanket that Rin tried to haphazardly get under. “Comfortable?”

On his stomach, Rin pillowed his head in his arms. “I hope to be.”

A chuckle, pleasant like summer. “I’ll see what I can do. Please scoot up a bit to rest your chin in the opening.”

Rin did so, and spread his legs to rest in the foot harnesses on the edge. 

Tachibana turned the music up two notches and rounded the table to his feet, taking a foot in hand and pressed into the arc just so that Rin felt a tingle all up his leg. “Let’s relax you first, and then we’ll get to your problem spot.”

Letting his arms fall to the side of him, palms up, Rin let Tachibana get to work. 

“You’re a swimmer, you said?”

Not that he minded talking, but he found it odd he’d turned the music up if he was going to engage in conversation. Did he not recognize his name? Well, the area was pretty rural. “Yep. Olympian. Two-time World champion.” It felt odd bragging to someone not in the know.

“Wow! That’s impressive!”

He’d expected a milder reaction, a casual praise that you’d get from a co-worker at best having not recognized him. So maybe he wasn’t just making small talk because it was his job. Yet the music would be an easy excuse to ignore a patron, get the job done and send them on their way. Pathetically, all Rin could answer with was a thanks.

Tachibana’s hands were definitely skilled. Strong and sure, rough around the edges with callouses. Massage therapy wasn’t something that would shape the kind of strength he felt behind those hands or the build in his body he possessed. What did he do on the side? Body building? No… his face and personality seemed much too soft.

He could do what a normal person would and _ask_ but that sounded like he was trying to flirt and get a date.

The way those hands worked themselves up his legs, skipping over his unmentionables and lower back up to his shoulders, it was making his brain fuzzy. Not talking sounded like a good plan.

Until Tachibana kept on with the 20 Questions. Asking about what it’s like to be famous (paparazzi, media, etc), what was his day job, where did he grow up, and had he been for a message before. Rin answered the best he could, given how successful this relaxing part was going. 

“You tensed a lot when I touched here,” Tachibana said, a palm over his rotator cuff. “And here,” both latissimus dorsi. “That right?”

“Yeah, feels it.”

“I’ll start focusing there. Try not to brace too much.”

“Go on ahead.”

And suddenly those hands felt like the man himself was jumping on top of him. _Holy shit_ how? Seriously, what did Tachibana do in his spare time? Surely those questions had been in preparation of an obituary because he felt like he was going to die very soon!

Then just as quickly, the torture was over and the soreness dissipated with the last retrieving finger tip.

“All done,” Tachibana declared like he hadn’t just tried to murder him. 

Rin blinked, wiping at the tears that pooled at the corner of his eyes. “That was… intense.”

“You needed it, though. Please drink a lot water when you get home and take it easy the rest of the day.”

He managed a nod, the room kind of looking like it was tilting. 

“Sit up slowly. Take your time and dress. Knock on the door when you’re done.”

That ended all too fast. 

Hinging onto his knees, he allowed the dizziness to settle enough before he sat on the bed to wait some more. Putting back on his jeans felt like he was learning how to get dressed all over again. A session with his therapist never felt like this! Was Tachibana too good at his job or was this treatment illegal? Either way, the pain seemed to be gone for now. Likely he’d wake up with some internal bruising!

What felt like an hour later, he knocked on the door and Tachibana came right back in. “I’ll take you back to the front desk now. Time’s up.”

Was that… disappointment he heard? “Maybe I’ll… come back sometime.” 

Instantly Tachibana’s green eyes lit up. “Happy to have you! We, uh, actually have a frequent guest program. Let me grab you a pamphlet. Oh, we’re already going to the front desk. This way.”

Yep. Definitely disappointment. It’d be a shame to make the cute masseur sad and not ask him questions in return. 

So much for not supporting the spa life. 

**Author's Note:**

> Rin getting the dokis for Makoto is my favorite.


End file.
